


Of Love Notes and Lemon Meringue Pies

by Blueskylover



Series: Eiji is Basically a Housewife [6]
Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Easter, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flowers, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueskylover/pseuds/Blueskylover
Summary: In which Eiji wonders why their neighbors are acting so strange, reluctantly tries beloved Easter treats, and somehow manages to fall in love with Ash all over again.
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Okumura Eiji, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Series: Eiji is Basically a Housewife [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1206963
Comments: 108
Kudos: 431





	1. Peeps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I would first like to say that this shorter fic is a thank you from me to you amazing and loyal readers for getting [Of Pumpkins and Pancakes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16149044/chapters/37732670) up to 700 kudos!! Never would I have thought that a story I had written would get so much recognition in the Banana Fish fandom. I am grateful to each and every single one of you beautiful readers (whether you leave kudos/comments or not) who took the time to read my stories, it means the world to me! ♥︎♥︎♥︎
> 
> Now for some specifics. This story is set soon after the last story in the series- [Of Daisies and Dinner Parties](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015881/chapters/47393431)\- but before the time skip at the end! :) 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this since it was very fun getting to write more fluff for AshEiji!!

The week started off just like any other. Eiji’s new normal was living out his day-to-day life in this ridiculously expensive high-rise apartment in the middle of New York City. All of their neighbors believed in his and Ash’s “fake” engagement, but he wasn’t sure what to call his relationship with the blond anymore. Spending months dancing around their feelings to have it all culminate in a passionate confession— in _public_ no less— felt like something out of a movie. 

They had yet to give a name to what was going on between them, but Eiji believed they had their whole lifetimes to figure it out. No matter how dire the circumstances, he knew they would get through it. Ash was someone who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and someone who he couldn’t imagine his life without. 

Like every Tuesday afternoon, he had run downstairs to pick up groceries for the week. Sometimes the store would be rearranged for special displays, and today seemed to be one of those days. Right in the center of the small supermarket was a giant bin filled to the brim with bags of brightly colored pieces of plastic. It was surrounded by shelves filled with candies and chocolates. 

The colorful display had Eiji drawn in from the moment he set foot in the shop. Some of the candies he recognized— he tended to buy Bones a bag every once in a while— but others were completely foreign. Not to mention, he had no idea what these plastic _things_ sitting in the bin were. 

Picking up a bag and turning it in his hands, it seemed like the plastic items were shaped like eggs. Upon closer inspection, it looked like they could be pulled apart in the center. 

“Mr. Eiji,” a small voice called out to him. 

Eiji smiled as he spotted Emily, Mrs. Ownes' young daughter, pulling her mother along by the arm and waving frantically. 

“Hello, Mrs. Owens,” he greeted their downstairs neighbor before leaning down to say hello to the little girl. "and Emi-chan!” 

The girl giggled at the nickname, which earned a small laugh from Mrs. Owens. “Emily is off from school today, so I figured I would get her out of the apartment for a bit—” 

“Are you having an Easter egg hunt, Mr. Eiji?” Emily interrupted, staring wide-eyed at the bag in his hand. 

_An Easter… what?_

“I am sorry, I do not understand what you mean,” he scratched the back of his neck. 

“You _don’t have_ Easter egg hunts in Japan,” the young girl asked incredulously. “But you are holding them in your hand!” 

He glanced down to the bag of plastic eggs in his hand, still a little confused. 

“Every Easter morning, we fill up those for the kids with candy or cookies, then hide them around the house,” Mrs. Owens explained. 

“I am _very_ good at finding them,” Emily grinned. 

He tilted his head to the side as he scanned over the display once more. The idea was still a little odd to him, he could have sworn Easter was celebrated as a _religious_ holiday here in America. 

“How about coloring eggs.. are ya gonna do that, Mr. Eiji?” 

Once again, the young girl was asking about something that he had never heard of. “Coloring eggs… with, uh— markers?” 

“No, silly,” she laughed while running off towards the display. Emily stood on her tip-toes, pulling a box off the shelves in order to hold it up at him. “With this!” 

Taking the box from her outstretched hands, he noticed pictures of colorful, smiling eggs were printed all over the packaging. 

“How about Peeps? Those are my favorite!” 

“Honey,” Mrs. Owens sighed at her daughter, “I’m sure Mr. Eiji is very busy right now, let’s say goodbye.” 

“Oh,” Emily's bright smile fell, a sadness overtaking her eyes. Eiji felt his chest constrict at her quick change of emotion. 

“Bye, Emi-chan,” he tried to say as cheerfully as possible while leaning down to her level. What he didn’t expect was for two small arms to wrap around his neck and pull him in for a hug. 

“Can I come over again soon?” She whispered. 

“Of course,” the brunet chuckled while returning the hug. “We can even watch the movie with the princess in the ice castle.” 

“Really?” Emily exclaimed. 

“Yes, really,” he nodded. 

The young girl cried of joy as she bounced over to her mother. “Bye, Mr. Eiji! Say hi to your husband for me!” 

“He is not my—“ Eiji let out a huff before conceding. “Fine, okay, I will.” 

Mother and daughter were soon out of his sight as they wandered into the aisles. He was now left alone with the giant display, pondering on what he should and shouldn’t buy. It was a good thing he had a card with a virtually unlimited balance. 

— — — 

Juggling the three cartons of eggs was difficult enough on its own, but he also had to carry numerous other bags up to the apartment. Needless to say, once he got in the front door, he breathed a sigh of relief. Before unpacking everything, he decided to make a cup of tea and take a quick break by the window. 

The first thing that came to mind was that he had no idea what to fill these tiny plastic eggs with. Being surrounded by the colorful shelves and candies clearly made him lose his judgment, as he had ended up buying three bags full of these eggs. 

Since Ash didn’t like _candy_ — or almost anything sweet for that matter— that eliminated most of the potential options. 

He sighed while bringing his cup of tea to his lips. The more of these American holiday traditions he learned of, the stranger they became. Did hiding candy and coloring eggs actually have something to do with religion, after all? 

Glancing out the window at the typical hustle and bustle of the city, he noticed something seemed... different. He would know— he is photographing out these windows 80% of the day. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a hot dog cart had set up shop across the street. 

_Hot dogs... he could do something with that!_

“That’s it,” Eiji exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. He grabbed the keys before rushing out the door then running down the stairs, two at a time. He had to be quick, Ash would _kill_ him if he knew that he had left the apartment.   
  
Since he used the back stairway, he was able to sneak around and cross the street without the doorman noticing. Thankfully, there was no line yet at the hot dog stand. 

“Hello,” he grinned at the teenage worker, who was sporting quite an interestingly striped apron. 

“What can I get ya?” 

“Can I have the small mustards?” 

The worker looked at him as if he had grown another head. “We only sell hot dogs here, buddy.” 

“I _know_ that.. but I just need the small mustards,” Eiji glanced at the plastic container, which was filled about halfway with the packets. “I can pay you!” 

“How much are we talkin’.” 

“Uh, how much money do you want for—um, all of them?” 

The teenager scratched at his non-existent beard. “Well, you’d be puttin’ me out of stock for the day, so somewhere around seventy bucks or so.” 

“Okay,” Eiji beamed as he pulled out the one hundred dollar bill he had stolen from Ash’s wallet a few days ago. He knew it would come in handy for something. 

Placing the money in the tip jar, he then grabbed mustard packets and shoved them into the pockets of his cardigan. “Thank you!” He graciously called out while heading back towards the street, leaving the young employee standing with his mouth agape. 

— — — 

Once he got back up to the apartment, Eiji placed all the packets onto the table. After taking the time to count them all out, it seemed like he was a few short. He only had twenty mustard packs to fill thirty or so eggs. 

He would figure it out later. Right now, there were groceries to unpack. 

For now, the mustard packets and egg coloring kits could be hidden behind his stack of natto. It was almost certain that Ash would never check back there. 

Settling back down at the table, he figured that he should search online to see if there were any more Easter traditions that he wasn’t aware of. Luckily the tablet was nearby, so he wouldn’t have to search the apartment for it like he typically did— since Ash did seem to understand the concept of putting things back in their place. As he switched on the device and loaded up the search engine, he frowned when he noticed a news website already pulled up. 

_Triple homicide in Brooklyn warehouse linked to gang activity._

Just that first headline alone made Eiji’s stomach churn. He had encountered many of these harrowing stories. So much so, that he had begun to pick up the meanings behind complicated terms at first glance. The more he could understand, the harder the headlines became to ignore. 

Every fiber of his being told him to click away from the article, but he just couldn’t help himself. 

Grasping the basic idea was simple enough with the assistance of translation apps. All the victims were killed with a single bullet, and the bodies had yet to be identified. Eiji wasn’t stupid— he knew this had to somehow be linked to Ash’s gang. 

“Calm down, Eiji,” he mumbled to himself while closing the webpage. Putting the tablet down on the table, the brunet stood up and headed into the kitchen. A cup of tea _always_ calms his nerves. 

While reaching for the teabags in the pantry, a brightly colored box caught his eye. The vibrant packaging was filled with multiple yellow… things, which seemed to be shaped like rabbits. The word “Peeps” was printed across the bottom. 

_So, this is what Emi-chan was excited over, before?_

Abandoning the tea idea, Eiji grabbed the box of Peeps and moved it to the counter. Carefully peeling apart the plastic, he picked up one of the treats between two fingers. It was strangely squishy and covered in what Eiji could only assume was sugar. The unnatural yellow color was very off-putting, but nevertheless, he took a deep breath before shoving the treat into his mouth. 

Eiji’s first instinct was to spit the thing out. It tasted extremely artificial, not to mention the texture was extremely unpleasant as he continued to chew on it. He had to suppress a gag when he finally swallowed. Immediately, he was hit with the aftertaste— which was almost as bad as eating another. 

_What is with Americans and their love of horrendous processed foods?_ Eiji thought despairingly.

— — — 

No matter how hard he tried to avoid the horrible reports plaguing the news, they seemed to follow him everywhere. From constant pop-up notifications from the New York Times to breaking news stories interrupting variety shows on television, reports about shootouts seemed inescapable. 

Avoiding the urge to toss the television remote across the room, Eiji figured he would just steer clear of technology. It had been a while since he had sat down to read a book, and Ash had a massive pile on the desk in their room. Hopefully, there would be one that wasn’t about some complicated topic. 

Rummaging through the stack— the first few books had him feeling discouraged. A compilation of science journals with words so small that it looked like fifty lines could fit on one page, and a publication filled with dull, black and white drawings of plants was not a very promising start. 

Right as he felt like giving up, Eiji noticed a small book at the very bottom of the pile. Glancing over the familiar characters, he couldn’t help but smile at the warm feeling blooming in his chest. 

_げんき - An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese_

Opening up the book resulted in a few loose pieces of notebook paper slipping out from between the pages and unceremoniously falling to the floor. While scrambling to pick up the scattered pieces, he spotted Ash’s messy handwriting scrawled all over the pages. The characters he was trying to emulate were sloppy, but he seemed to be getting the idea. 

“Oh, Ash,” he let out a fond sigh. “Why would you not let me teach you?” 

Trying to fit all the pieces of notebook paper back into the language book wasn’t an easy task. Somehow it seemed there were more sheets of paper on the floor than pages in the actual book. It took almost fifteen minutes to make the book look _sort of_ similar to how it was before being touched.

Once he was satisfied, Eiji wiped his brow and placed the language book back at the bottom of the pile. Clearly, the blond didn’t want him knowing about it, as he had kept it hidden. Ash was purposeful with everything he did, so there was definitely a reason behind keeping this from him— not that it made it hurt any less. 

Now he was back to square one with no book to read. Maybe he should have agreed to let Ash buy him some manga. _Anything_ would be better than those dry academic-style books. Do Americans just not read novels? 

Retreating back to the couch, he decided to just go back to using the tablet. He needed something to take his mind off of the fact that it was already getting quite late, and he had heard nothing from Ash, Bones, Kong, or anyone else for that matter. 

Negative thoughts began swirling around his mind. Before long, the anxiety started to take its toll on his body. Subconsciously twisting the ring on his finger, he was finding that breathing was becoming more difficult as horrible scenarios filled his thoughts. Ash _might_ have been involved in one of those incidents on the news. His corpse could be sitting in some ditch, all alone. He would never be able to see his smile or those green eyes ever again— 

The sound of the front door opening yanked him out of his spiral of thoughts. He whipped his head around to see Ash, who was struggling to get into the apartment with all the things he was carrying. 

Almost dropping the chair onto the floor in his haste, Eiji rushed over to the doorway to wrap his arms around the blond’s neck— pulling him into a tight embrace. 

Ash let out a surprised noise, which sounded like something between a squeak and a grunt. “Sorry for taking so long.. the line at the Indian place was crazy.” 

As awkward as their position was— a large brown bag of takeout along with a few other items squished between them— Eiji didn’t want to let go. His breathing was still labored, so it wouldn’t be easy to respond.. but he was able to whisper. “I am so glad you are safe, Ash.” 

Even though the blond shook his head and gave an exasperated sigh, there was an obvious warmth in his eyes. “Can I at least put this stuff down?” 

Reluctantly, he released his hold on the other boy. 

Ash dropped the pile of things he was carrying on the counter before making his way towards the kitchen. Grabbing a spoon out of the drawer, he served the food onto a few plates. “I got you biryani. You like that one right?” 

He did like biryani.. but as he sat down at the table, his appetite from earlier seemed to disappear. Staring down at the rice, trying to stop his thoughts from overtaking him once more. So lost in his head, he didn’t even hear Ash sit across from him. 

“Hey.” The blond gently nudged his foot under the table. “Is everything okay?” 

“You will think it is dumb,” Eiji mumbled under his breath. 

“I might,” Ash let out a laugh before continuing, "but I still want to hear it.” 

A heavy silence took hold of the room. The only sound coming from his fork pushing the food around the ceramic plate. “I saw this news story today.. about a gang shooting,” he admitted slowly, his chest tightening with every word. “I think to myself, what if that was you, Ash? You would be dead, and I would not even know it!” 

It wasn’t until he was finished with his rant that he realized he had been yelling. His throat felt raw as he sucked in a few deep breaths in a pitiful attempt to calm himself down. 

Suddenly, the blond reached out and grabbed his hand, holding it tight in his own. “But it _wasn’t_ me. I’m right here.” 

Eiji opened his mouth to retort, to say that it easily _could have_ been him—but the words just didn’t want to come out. So, he just opted to stay silent. 

Pulling his hand away, Ash leaned back in his chair. “I have an idea.” 

“I am not sure if I like your ideas,” he groaned, looking across the table at the other boy for the first time since they sat down. “They usually involve danger.” 

“Don’t worry, this is a good one— completely safe.” 

“Oh? I am listening.” 

“Why don’t we pretend that I have a normal job or a part-time gig that I go to after my long day of normal college classes.” 

Taken back by the unexpected proposition, Eiji blinked owlishly at the blond. It seemed like Ash was completely serious. “B-But the news…” 

“Don’t watch it,” he responded simply. “I’ll turn off all the notifications for the news apps on the tablet.” 

It certainly was a strange idea, but not one he was opposed to. “Okay, I want to try it,” Eiji grinned, the tight feeling in his chest had all but faded. A familiar warmth was quickly taking its place as Ash smiled back at him.

— — — 

“Eiji.” 

The brunet was currently repackaging his Indian takeout. It would most likely get eaten within a few hours, but it was never good to leave food out. He blamed that horrendous sugary yellow treat from earlier for ruining his appetite. “Hm, what is it?” 

“These are for you,” Ash said simply. 

Turning around, Eiji audibly gasped at the giant bouquet of ruby-red tulips. The evening light streaming through the windows gave the flowers a golden tinge. “They are so beautiful.. thank you, Ash.” He couldn’t stop the wide smile from spreading across his face while he graciously accepted the arrangement. 

“This too.” The blond placed a small, white envelope in his free hand. Flipping it open revealed a card with four characters on it. Eiji wasn’t expecting Japanese writing, and the characters were a little messy— but he got the basic idea. 

_愛してる_

Eiji kept rereading the message over and over again. His heart was swelling in his chest, he had never received these characters from anyone before. He had rarely heard his parents speak these words to each other, except for when his father was on his death bed. 

“Did I write it correctly,” Ash asked, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. 

“Well, the strokes on the kanji for ai are a little sloppy.” 

“My bad,” the blond shrugged, but Eiji could tell that he was disappointed in himself.

“Oh, Ash,” he let out a fond sigh, dropping the bouquet along with the envelope onto the counter before leaning up to wrap his arms around the other boy’s neck, holding him close. “You know we do not say this often in Japan.. only on wedding day or other special occasions.” 

“Really? Shit, I didn’t know—” 

“It is okay,” Eiji interrupted, resting his head in the crook of Ash’s neck. After a few seconds, he could feel the blond returning the embrace. He would be fine with staying like this forever— in a wildly expensive kitchen in the arms of the American boy that he loves so much. “ _Aishiteru_ , Ash,” he said softly as he leaned up to press a gentle kiss to Ash's cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 愛してる = Aishiteru = I love you 
> 
> And now for [some](https://twitter.com/kiringo69/status/1216636880805974016) [beautiful](https://twitter.com/san3sane/status/1223975483961856000) [art](https://twitter.com/HIKO_piyan/status/1076132173046996992) from some super talented creators that inspired parts of this chapter!
> 
> Check out my other social media! Feel free to come yell with me about Asheiji or Banana Fish over there! ♡  
> [Tumblr](http://queensgrove.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/queensgrove96)


	2. Lemon Meringue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever since I (tried) to publish this chapter yesterday morning, it had been bugging me that I hadn't included all that I wanted to include in this part. So I am reuploading with waaaay more content in this chapter, so I figured it would be worth it! This chapter is now very very long now but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless ♡

The day started off normal enough. Eiji’s eyelids fluttered open as the early morning rays of light filtered through the window. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he stretched his arms over his head. Stealing a glance to the bed beside his, he could see Ash was still fast asleep. The other boy's breathing was even, and there was a relaxed expression on his pale face. _He was beautiful._

Trying to be quiet, Eiji toed on his slippers as he rose to his feet. He straightened the comforter and fluffed the pillows before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth. After splashing water onto his face, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Dull brown eyes, along with a mop of black hair, stared back at him. 

_Nothing special. Average._

He looked away from his reflection in shame. His knuckles were growing white from how tightly he was gripping the toothbrush. It was too early for his negative thoughts to be plaguing him. Maybe he just needed a coffee. 

Padding into the kitchen, he stared down his worst enemy— the pod-based coffee machine, otherwise known as the environment killer. Eiji scooped some of the instant coffee into a mug then used the _kettle_ to pour hot water into the cup.

Opening the fridge door, he grabbed an unopened milk carton—since he no longer trusted Ash to not drink right from them— and placed it next to his mug. He hummed while stirring in some milk and sugar. 

Like he did every morning, he sat down with his cup of coffee to check the news. Just as he was about to instinctively switch on the tablet, he remembered the conversation from yesterday. 

“How does he expect me to not look at the news,” he grumbled lowly. 

“Don’t worry yourself too much over it, older and wiser. If you do, you may just get grey hair.” 

Eiji whipped his head around to see Ash, who was leaning against the doorway to their bedroom with a smug smile on his face. 

“A-Ash?” He spluttered, frantically looking between the clock and the blond. _It was seven thirty, right? Was he still asleep?_

“Surprised?” The blond strode into the kitchen, throwing open the fridge door. “Had to get up for my important college exam, after all.” 

“You—what?” Eiji blinked owlishly. It was possible to count on one hand how many times the other boy got up before noon. 

Ash took a chug of milk directly from the carton. “Memory going bad, old man?” 

“Uh… wait— I just open that!” Attempting to stop grinding his teeth, he gripped the handle his the mug. “Since you are awake enough to make fun of me, you can make your own breakfast!” 

The blond seemed taken aback. “Aw, honey, don’t be like that.” He slid into the seat across from him with an exaggerated pout on his face. 

“Well, I was thinking about making some natto,” Eiji pondered aloud as he put a finger on his chin. 

Pout quickly turning into a grimace, Ash sat back in his seat. “Actually, I think I’ll pass.” 

“Natto is good for you... brain food to help with your important college exam—” 

“Speaking of that, I am going to have to head out soon.” 

“You leave already?” Eiji gasped as he looked at the time. It was only eight. “What am I supposed to do all day with no news?” 

“Don’t worry. I downloaded some colorful games with minimal English onto the tablet for you.” Ash said as he leaned across the table and swiped his cup of coffee. He took a big sip before sauntering back into the bedroom, leaving Eiji staring at his now half-empty mug. 

_Jeez, these Americans have no manners._

— — — 

By some miracle, the blond hadn’t taken forever in the bathroom. Meaning it wasn’t much longer until he would most likely walk out the door. Watching Ash leave the apartment and not knowing if he would come back was undoubtedly the worst part of the day. 

However, today Eiji thought it was strange how he was the one in pajamas while Ash was fully dressed since it was typically the other way around at this time in the morning. 

“Please be safe,” he pleaded, resisting the urge to hug Ash and never let go. 

The blond gave him a crooked smile. “I think you meant to say good luck on your important college exam, my dear fiancé.” 

“Oh, right. I already forget,” Eiji admitted with a sigh. 

“Hm,” Ash hummed as he reached out to fix the crooked collar on Eiji’s pajama shirt. “That’s better.” 

“Good luck,” he said softly, gazing up into those green eyes, “With the important college exam.” 

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, you know how my boss loves to keep me after my shift.” 

“Your boss is no good. I tell you over and over to quit that job.” Eiji put his hands on his hips, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Well, how else will I be able to afford that crappy Chinese takeout you love so much?” 

“Excuse me! That place is _not_ crap— and you know it!" 

It seemed the serious expression on Ash’s face was quickly crumbling. The corners of his mouth twitched before he burst out into genuine laughter. Not a scoff or a forced laugh— the ferocious gang leader Ash Lynx was actually giggling in front of him. 

_A rare sight_ , Eiji sighed wistfully. _He looks so carefree._

“Anyways,” Ash breathed, wiping a tear from his eye as his laughs subsided. “I do have to go.” 

His mind screamed for him to beg Ash to stay. To save him from fearing the worst all day long. But he knew that the blond would never listen to him, so Eiji just settled on a simple nod. 

“Okay, bye, _honey_ ,” Ash exaggerated the pet name with a wink. A teasing grin graced his features as he leaned over to slap his butt—just like he had done in prison all those months ago. 

“A-Ash!” Eiji yelped. Seconds later, he was left standing in the doorway, blushing furiously. 

— — — 

With a huff, Eiji plopped down on the dining chair. His coffee had almost surely gone cold by now— not that it mattered. There was barely any left in the cup after Ash had spontaneously decided upon stealing some. 

It was still relatively early in the morning, and he had yet to eat anything. Miso soup felt like too much hassle, so he decided on fruit. Eyeing the bowl on the counter, Eiji was surprised to find it almost empty. One lone avocado sat by itself in the center of the giant bowl. 

He rested his head against the wooden surface of the table. In his Easter holiday-induced haze at the supermarket yesterday, he must have forgotten to get any produce. Even though he won't admit it, if Ash didn’t have his avocado toast in the morning, then he would be grumpy all day. 

Pushing himself to his feet, Eiji figured going to the supermarket would be a good excuse to get out of the apartment for a bit. It may help him ignore the fact that he can’t check the news. Also, it might help him figure out what to put in the small plastic eggs— since Easter was coming up soon. 

After a quick change from his pajamas to a cardigan— it had started to warm up in New York; however, there was still a chill in the air— he headed out the door. As usual, the empty hallway greeted him. While pressing the down button on the elevator, he noticed the neighbor’s door open. Ready to call out to greet Mrs. Coleman, Eiji stopped when he realized that it was her husband. 

“Hi, Mr. Coleman,” He greeted the older man, who was locking up his own apartment door. “Are you heading off to work.”

Mr. Coleman spared him a quick glance before staring down at his phone. “I’m working from home today.” 

“Oh,” Eiji said meekly, the back of his neck starting to sweat from their neighbor’s serious demeanor. “Would you like me to hold open the elevator?” 

Eiji flinched at the icy look that the older man was giving him, there was anger in his expression, and his lip was curled. 

“I think I’ll take the stairs,” Mr. Coleman snapped before turning around and stomping towards the staircase. Throwing the door open, he sent one last glare his way before heading down the stairs. 

“Eh?” Eiji blinked, pondering over how strange that encounter was. _Mr. Coleman had been friendly enough with him before in the past... so what was going on?_

The chime of the elevator door opening pulled him out of his thoughts. 

While the meeting with Mr. Coleman was strange, his next encounter was downright bewildering. Once he was in the lobby, he noticed one of the housewives who lived on a different floor struggling with her shopping bags. Her name may have been Susan… or was it Suzanna? Suzy? _All these white peoples' names sound the same!_

“Um,” Eiji cleared his throat to get her attention since her back was facing him. “Would you like some help?” 

“Oh, thank you,” she breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around. Once she caught sight of his face, her jaw dropped, and a fearful expression took over her features. “Well, you know, actually I can’t—“ She stumbled over her words while she slowly backed away. 

Standing in utter bewilderment, Eiji watched their neighbor scramble to the elevator as fast as she could— juggling several bags while she repeatedly pressed the call button. Once the door opened, she hurried inside. The woman then began pressing another button over and over again as the doors closed. 

“What just happen?” The brunet said aloud, cocking his head to the side. 

— — — 

The whole walk to the supermarket was filled with apprehensive glances thrown his way, and people deliberately trying to avoid coming near him. For a moment, he thought it may be his breath, but he definitely remembered brushing his teeth earlier. 

Just when he thought that things couldn’t get any stranger, he noticed the amount of people in the store. He had been to this supermarket in the early morning plenty of times, but he had never seen it this busy. 

Shoppers were frantically running around the store, picking up anything they could get their hands on. Eiji was lucky that they still had some avocados left, but the apples— which he had been craving— were gone. He grumbled as he reluctantly tossed the last few avocados into his basket. 

To his surprise, the Easter display was also cleaned out apart from a few items. At the sight of the horrendous _‘Peeps’_ Eiji had to put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from gagging. 

The aisles— which were usually fully stocked— seemed to be half empty. Eiji frowned as he stared at the shelves. It was possible that the daily shipment had yet to arrive. 

With a sigh, the brunet resigned to his fate— it seemed the only thing he could buy was avocados. His basket was painfully empty as he headed to the checkout counter. 

It wasn’t often that the store had so many customers waiting in line to pay. While standing in the queue, Eiji could feel eyes on him. Hushed whispers from the other shoppers started to make him uncomfortable. 

All of a sudden, the woman in front of him whipped around. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. She was another face Eiji recognized, her name may have been Julie... or Janet? Maybe it was Juliet? 

“Step back,” the woman growled. 

“O-Oh! I am sorry,” he replied hastily, taking a few steps back. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t bump into anyone behind him. In fact, the housewives standing right behind him had moved away a considerable distance. 

Unease washed over him as the women stared at him, their eyes wide with fear. His mind immediately went to Ash— did they find out his real identity? How much longer would they be safe staying here? 

“Next.” 

The droning of the cashier pulled him out of his thoughts. He shook his head while he made his way towards the register. Maybe he was just _overreacting_ , he had a tendency to do that. People had their off days, right? 

— — — 

Instead of having to deal with another elevator ordeal, Eiji just took the stairs back up to their floor. Once he was in the apartment, he dumped the avocados into the fruit bowl before collapsing onto the couch. He was desperate to check the news. Something had to be going on for everyone to be acting so strangely. 

He barely had enough energy to make himself a cup of tea. Sitting down at the table with hot beverage in hand, Eiji forced himself not to grab the tablet. The television remote wasn’t too far away, which was also tempting him. 

The brunet groaned, putting his head in his hands. He hadn’t even gotten something to fill the small, plastic eggs with. For some reason, the only thing he could find in that store was avocados. 

“Wait— that is it,” Eiji exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat. He felt foolish for not thinking of it before. Mustard and avocados were two of Ash’s favorite foods, after all. 

Since there were still a few days until Easter, he wouldn’t be able to cut them up yet. Instead, he opted for hiding four whole avocados next to the mustard packets and plastic eggs. 

Now that he had that figured out, all he had left to do was… nothing. As opposed to sitting around and making his anxiety even worse, Eiji decided to try and give some of the apps a try. Hopefully, they would be decent enough to help pass the time. 

— — — 

After a few hours of arranging candies in a line and tapping a bird to make it fly, Eiji was tired of the mindless games. Every chance he had an opportunity to think, his mind went back to what happened earlier. There was a chance that their neighbor’s strange behavior had nothing to do with Ash. Maybe he was the one who did something wrong. 

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the front door opening. 

“Great news. I finished my important college exam early, so I was able to convince my insufferable boss to let me off a little earlier,” Ash announced as he shrugged off his jacket, draping it over the chair while he shut the door with his foot. 

“Oh, okay,” Eiji replied half-heartedly. He gave the blond a smile that he prayed didn’t look too forced. 

The look in Ash’s eyes quickly switched from playfulness to concern. “What’s going on?” 

“Did you see any neighbors in the lobby,” he asked quietly. 

“A couple.” The blond sat down next to him on the couch, far enough to give him some space but close enough for Eiji to reach out and touch him. “Why?” 

“Did… they, um— act strangely?” 

“Well, some lady kept complimenting my new haircut, even though I haven’t cut it in months.” 

Eiji’s heart sank. That must mean their neighbors are somehow upset with him for an unknown reason. 

A stretch of silence fell between the two of them. Eiji fiddled with the hem of his shirt before admitting, “I think they are upset with me.” 

“Who is?” Ash furrowed his brow. “The housewives?” 

He nodded, trying to avoid the blond’s stare as he kept his gaze firmly fixed to the ground. 

“Why would they be upset with you?” 

“I-I do not know,” Eiji squeaked, quickly glancing up at the other boy. 

Ash let out a sigh as he leaned back into the couch. “How about you figure out something that your fellow housewives like to do for each another.” 

“Wait a second,” the brunet huffed, “Are you calling me housewife again? I am not—“ 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” Ash waved him off. “How about you make a pie or something?” 

“A pie?” Eiji entertained the idea for a moment. His track record with baking wasn’t the best, and it was a 50/50 shot that the dessert would turn out edible. “What kind of pie?” 

“Dunno,” Ash shrugged, a teasing glint in his eye. “I’m not a housewife, so I don’t really eat pies.” 

“W-What are you saying, Ash! It is not only housewives who eat pie!” 

The blond responded with a nonchalant shrug. 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Eiji told himself to take deep breaths. In and out. He would _not_ let this ridiculous American have the satisfaction of riling him up. 

“Besides, how could these housewives resist one of your baked treats?” Ash stifled a laugh. “They'll either forgive you because it could taste good or,” he paused for dramatic effect, “it may give them food poisoning and kill them. Solves the issue either way.” 

_“Ash!”_

The closest pillow he could find was thrown at that stupid blond head of hair. 

— — — 

It wasn’t until the next morning that Eiji realized that they had no fruit to make a pie _with_. The only thing sitting in the fruit bowl were a few avocados. He was positive that no one would enjoy an avocado pie— apart from Ash. 

Speaking of the blond, he was still fast asleep at nine in the morning. Eiji had already gotten ready, prepared breakfast for himself, while also setting aside a salad for Ash. He was currently on tea number two. The hot beverage helped take his mind off the growing urge to cave and check the news. 

For a moment, Eiji considered going into the other room to wake Ash up. However, he ended up deciding against it. There was a pie he needed to make, after all. 

Rummaging through the fridge, he prayed that he would find something he could use as some kind of filling. In the middle of sifting through the produce, his eyes landed on something with potential. While it wasn’t the first thing that would come to mind for a pie filling, Eiji knew lemons could be used to make desserts. 

Filled with newfound confidence, he strode back to the table with a satisfied grin. Now, all he had to do was find some kind of recipe. Grabbing the tablet, he typed in ‘lemon pie’ into the search engine. 

Pages upon pages of lemon pie recipes showed up as a result, but one, in particular, drew his attention. The fluffy-looking white topping looked similar to whipped cream, but the peaks were a caramel color. 

“Lemon meringue pie, huh?” 

Eiji jumped in his seat, almost throwing the tablet across the room as he whipped his head around to see Ash standing right behind him— bedhead and all. 

“A-Ash! You scare me,” he squeaked, taking a few breaths to regain his composure. “I am surprised you woke up on your own.” 

“I have a meeting downtown,” Ash replied simply before leaning over to take a drink from his cup. 

Eiji puffed out his cheeks. “You always steal mine!” He grumbled, “I can make you a tea.” 

“No time.” The blond shrugged as he placed the mug down. “Besides,” a teasing grin spread across his face, “isn’t it considered an indirect kiss, anyways?” 

“A-A what,” Eiji spluttered, a flush quickly warming his cheeks while he stared down at the cup. 

Instead of a verbal response, Ash winked at him while he strode into the bedroom. 

— — — 

“What is this meeting about?” The brunet frowned. He knew there was no hope in asking since Ash never told him anything— but what could it hurt. 

Ash shrugged on his jacket. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Disappointed but not surprised, Eiji frowned. “You know I will still worry.” 

Usually, Ash always had some kind of excuse ready, but today he looked somewhat conflicted as he glanced between Eiji and the door. “Don’t give me that face— it shouldn’t take that long.” 

Knowing there was nothing else he could say, Eiji offered a reassuring smile, praying that it didn’t look as forced as it felt.

Not too long after, Ash was out the door. 

Slumping back down at the table, he continued on his hunt for the perfect lemon meringue pie recipe. Which was turning out to be easier said than done. No matter how simple the recipe claimed to be, it still seemed to require over ten steps. 

A similarity across all the different recipes— apart from each being authored by a white woman who happened to live on a farm— was that the dough for the pie crust should be made in advance. 

Stacking ingredients, bowls, and utensils from the cabinets into his arms, Eiji slowly made his way over to the counter. Thankfully, they had just about every ingredient the dough called for apart from something called _shortening_ — which didn’t really sound like something you would want cook with, anyway. _Why would you want to make pie shorter as opposed to making it taller?_

Just looking at the recipe he chose was intimidating. His previous attempts at cookies, chocolates, and somewhat pre-made cakes seemed relatively easy compared to this— and he still managed to mess those up. Since this recipe had such a high rating and numerous comments, it _should_ turn out alright. If managed to pull it off, then it was guaranteed that the neighbors would be pleased with him. 

After taking a deep breath, Eiji began combining the dry ingredients. He could do this. The last few baking attempts may not have been great, but it is impossible to get better at something without failing a couple of times. 

Next, he had to combine cubed butter with the dry mix. The woman in the recipe used some kind of fancy tool, but using a fork would _probably_ be fine. Eiji never understood why all the women in the recipes loved these ridiculous baking tools, especially since they only tended to accomplish one specific thing. 

When the mix looked somewhat similar in consistency to the picture on the recipe, he started measuring out the water. For some reason, the recipe said to add the water in small batches while mixing after each time. 

“Who has the time for that,” Eiji frowned as he dumped the water into the mix. 

It wasn’t until he tossed the measuring cup into the sink that he noticed the carton of eggs, which he had pulled out earlier, looked suspiciously empty. Gingerly opening the top, Eiji cringed when he found no eggs inside the container. 

Well, maybe it was time for a break anyway. He had the dough almost done, it just needed to be rolled together. He had gotten three steps in without the kitchen bursting into flames, after all. 

— — — 

Luckily enough, the supermarket still had a few cartons of eggs left. Eiji breathed of relief when he saw them sitting on the shelf in the relatively empty store. Just in case he made a mistake, he made sure to grab two cartons. 

Now, he was heading back to the elevator— eggs in hand. Right before he was about to turn the corner, he froze when he noticed Ash speaking with one of the neighbors by the bay of elevators. Shrinking back so he could remain unseen, Eiji tried to listen in on their conversation. 

“Are you still in close quarters with that Asian boy?” The woman asked with her hand on her hip. 

The look in Ash’s eyes quickly turned aggressive, but somehow he still managed to say cooly, “Well, we are engaged so it would be strange if we weren’t?” 

“Well,” the neighbor frowned, she looked somewhat uncomfortable. “I would exercise caution. I hear that they catch the disease quicker and spread it faster.” 

_Disease?_

If Ash seemed agitated before, the woman’s words seemed to enrage him. The blond’s nostrils flared as he stared their neighbor down. “What the _fuck_ is the matter with you people. You know that isn’t true.” 

“But—“ 

“Shut up,” Ash screeched, reaching for the revolver kept in his jeans. 

Eiji’s blood ran cold. His mind screamed at him to yell out, but the lump in his throat made it impossible. All he could do was grip the wall as he watched the scene unfold. 

Thankfully, after a moment of hesitation, Ash didn’t pull out his gun. “I don’t even want to hear you speak,” he said lowly. “Just because you have money doesn’t mean you get to do or say whatever you want.” 

The woman stood in utter shock, eyes wide as saucers. Her mouth was gaping in an attempt to form a response. She looked downright _terrified_.

Slamming his fist against the wall, Ash said through gritted teeth, “I can’t believe that is what this is about.” 

A tense moment of silence passed before the blond turned and headed in the opposite direction, leaving their neighbor standing in shock. 

Ash was presumably heading towards the stairwell, he figured. Almost running across the lobby, Eiji threw open the door to the stairs but found it empty. 

“Ash?” He called, but there was no response. 

Climbing up the stairs to their floor, he also found the hallway devoid of anyone. 

Since Ash wasn’t in the stairwell or in the hallway, Eiji assumed he must be back already. Slowly opening the door to their apartment, he peered around the front entryway, but there was no-one in sight. 

“Ash?” 

Eiji frowned when he was met with silence once again. However, now it was clear to him. He _had_ to check the news. Grabbing the tablet off the table, he immediately pulled up the Times. 

The articles he was met with made him want to throw up. _A foreign sickness in the city? Seemingly originating from Asia? Anyone was susceptible?_

 _No wonder people had been acting strange!_ Eiji thought despairingly as he frantically glanced around the empty apartment. There was a chance he was sick, and maybe that was why Ash didn’t come back. 

He leaned against the counter, holding a hand against his mouth. Words from the articles were fresh in his mind as his stomach churned. Black dots started to swim across his vision, his body becoming heavier by the second. 

_Sick. He was sick. How many others had he gotten sick?_

It was becoming increasingly more difficult to hold himself up. His grip on the counter was weakening, and it wasn’t long until he felt himself collapsing onto the floor. 

Someone yelling out his name was the last thing he heard before everything went dark. 

— — — 

When Eiji opened his eyes again, his head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. His vision was fuzzy as he glanced around the room. Turning his head, it took a moment to realize that he was no longer in the kitchen but laying in the bedroom. Golden rays of sunlight streamed through the window, lighting up the dim room in hues of red and orange— clearly, some time had passed since he had blacked out. 

His head must have been resting against three pillows, and it seemed like the comforter, along with several blankets, were draped over him. Peering to his left, Ash was kneeling on the ground next to the bed. The blond was typing away on his phone with one hand while the other was intertwined with his own. 

“Ash,” he said breathlessly. Immediately, those vibrant green eyes were looking right at him. 

“Hey,” Ash whispered, a small smile on his face. His expression was a mixture of worry, relief, and an undeniable _fondness_ as he gently ran a thumb over the back of Eiji's palm. “Feeling better?” 

Better… he had passed out, hadn’t he? Which must mean that he was sick! The brunet shot up into a sitting position, yanking his hand away while he scooted further away on the mattress. “Stay away, Ash.” 

_All those neighbors had the right to be scared of being near him, after all. Who knows how many other people he had infected—_

“Eiji?” Ash asked, his voice was so quiet that it was barely audible over the sounds of traffic spilling in from the open window. Seeing the hurt as it clouded over the other boy's expression felt like a vice grip on Eiji's heart. 

Turning towards the wall, Eiji instinctively bit his lip as he pulled his knees up to his chest. “I-I do not want you to get sick too.” 

“Sick? You aren’t sick,” the blond frowned, “you just passed out— probably from all the stress you are putting yourself under.” 

“But I am sick... I felt dizzy before I— you know,” he finished lamely. 

Ash let out a low chuckle before dropping his phone on the floor and climbing next to him on the mattress. 

“A-Ash! You are going to get sick,” he yelped. 

“Do you think I would do _this_ if I thought you'd get me sick,” Ash reached over to gently cup the side of his face, turning his head so that he was looking right into those green eyes. Eiji’s breath hitched as the blond’s lips met his in a chaste kiss. 

Ash leaned back with a smug smile on his face. “See?” 

“Y-Yeah, maybe you are right... this time,” Eiji admitted with a strained laugh, a flush still lingering on his cheeks. 

“This time?” The blond scoffed. “I think this makes two times in a row if I remember correctly?” 

Eiji huffed and shoved at him with his foot. “Stop being a brat.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys ever rewatch Banana Fish and forget how good it actually is?? (except for the last episode we don't talk about that)
> 
> Hit me up on my social media! Please yell with me about Asheiji/Banana Fish over there! My love for them been renewed since I have rewatched! ♡  
> [Tumblr](http://queensgrove.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/queensgrove96)


	3. Eggshells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! 
> 
> As you can probably tell from the chapter count (in a typical fashion for this series) I have written way more than expected.. meaning there is going to be one more part to this fic! ♥︎ I also rewatched the series lately with my friend and successfully dragged her into BF hell. Go check out [her writing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prince_of_Puzzles) because honestly, she's incredible and she is planning on writing a really cool BF fic in the future
> 
> Seeing that ending again also gave me a renewed vigor to write more fluffy/happy Asheijis as a personal middle finger to Akimi Yoshida.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Hopefully, it is a little ray of light in the darkness that is the world right now

“The pie! I almost forget about it,” Eiji cried while scrambling out of bed, leaving a pile of blankets— and a very confused Ash— in his wake. 

Thankfully, the dough mixture was still seemingly intact and sitting in the same spot where he had left it earlier. A quick glance around the room revealed that nothing looked broken or burnt, yet. So far, it was his most successful baking attempt yet.

If he remembered correctly, he had left off on the step where he had to combine the mixture to form a dough ball. As per the instructions, Eiji made sure to flour the counter before he started. Grabbing the bowl, he flipped it upside down and eagerly waited for the dough to fall nicely onto the counter. 

One minute turned into two, which quickly became three as the brunet held his breath, waiting for something to happen. The dough hadn’t even budged an inch. With a frown, Eiji shook the bowl in vain. 

It was quickly becoming apparent that the dough wouldn’t be going anywhere without him scooping it out. Eiji groaned as he set the bowl on the counter. _The woman in the recipe was able to do this so easily! How was he struggling so much on something so simple?_

After a few deep breaths, he stuck his hand into the glass bowl and pulled out a fair amount. To Eiji's dismay, it was proving difficult to get the dough onto the counter— since it was adamantly sticking to his fingers. Even when he was using his other hand to try and scoop it off, it kept transferring to everything but the counter. 

“What is with this,” he cried, shaking his hands vigorously.

“Looks like someone is having trouble.” 

Eiji turned around to see Ash leaning against their bedroom doorway, an amused smirk on his stupidly handsome face. 

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” the blond sighed as he approached, “you just passed out less than an hour ago.” 

“I want to get this done,” he muttered under his breath. 

Without a word, Ash flipped open the lid of the flour canister and dipped both of his hands right in. 

“Ash! What are you doing!” Eiji furrowed his brow at the other boy. _Not only did he ruin the brand new milk carton this morning, but now he was planning on contaminating the entire container of flour, too?_

He let out a yelp as Ash grabbed onto his hands. The blond pulled the sticky mixture off his fingers with ease before combining it with the rest of the dough.

Eiji gawked at the perfectly round ball of dough now sitting on the counter. “H-How did you—“ 

“It says here to add flour if it gets like that.” Ash pointed to the line in the recipe with a self-satisfied expression. “Do you need to get your eyes checked? I know the elderly need to get it done more often.” 

“Says the one who actually wears glasses for bad eyesight,” Eiji muttered in response. 

— — —

“You should lay down,” Ash repeated for what felt like the third time. 

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Eiji wrapped the ball of pie dough in plastic before placing it in the fridge. “I tell you already. I am fine.” 

Without looking, he could feel the other boy’s disapproving stare on his back while he washed his hands. The poignant silence that passed between the two of them almost made it seem like Ash had given up.

However, nothing was that easy when it came to dealing with Ash Lynx. 

Before Eiji had a chance to move, he felt arms wrapping around his middle and lifting him off the ground. “Ash!” He squealed, gripping onto the blond’s sleeve in an attempt to pry his arm off. It was no surprise that his feeble tugging was to no avail against Ash’s iron grip. 

Eiji was rendered powerless as he was dragged across the room and deposited onto the couch. He let out a sigh, laying his head against the armrest in defeat. It was comfortable. 

Ash looked satisfied with himself. “Get some rest,” he said softly before turning to walk into the other room. 

“Wait, Ash.” The words left Eiji’s mouth before he could stop them. He bit his lip as the blond faced him. “W-Will you, um, stay with me?” 

He waited for some type of sarcastic remark, but none came. Instead, a small smile crossed Ash's face, lighting up his eyes. Without a word, the blond kneeled down beside the couch and rested his head on top of Eiji's chest. 

From this angle, it was easy to see right into those green eyes. Eiji could never understand how people could call Ash a monster or a demon— especially when his expression was full of hope and love. The worst part is those selfish people made Ash feel that way about _himself_. 

“Ash, I am sorry,” he said lowly, a lump forming in his throat.

“What’s the apology for this time,” Ash joked while twisting a strand of Eiji's brown hair around his index finger. 

“I-It was selfish of me to ask you to stay here when you are busy.” 

A moment of silence passed before the blond shook his head with a low chuckle. “You are the least selfish person I know, Eiji.” He stopped playing the strand of hair so he could tuck it behind his ear. “Besides, you always stay by my side, so am I not allowed to return the favor?” 

Oh. Eiji couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. “Thank you, Ash.” 

“Don’t mention it,” the blond responded nonchalantly.

Eiji may never understand how someone as beautiful, smart, and kind-hearted as Ash would want to be with someone like him. But what he did know was that, in this moment, he felt like the luckiest person on Earth. As he closed his eyes, he could feel Ash interlacing his fingers with his own.

— — — 

With a groan, Eiji cracked open his eyes. Early morning sunlight streamed in through the blinds, lighting up the living room in hues of orange and pink. A dull ache throbbed in his lower back while he stared up at the ceiling. He must have ended up fallen asleep on the couch, after all.

As he pushed himself into a sitting position, a blanket— which he hadn’t remembered getting, fell to the floor. He blearily peered around the room for any sign of Ash. 

“Ash,” he tried calling out to the quiet apartment, but no answer came. Getting to his feet, Eiji grumbled as he made his way to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. 

In the midst of grabbing the instant coffee from the cabinet, he spotted a note on the table. No doubt it was from Ash. 

Eiji flipped on the kettle before picking up the piece of paper. 

_Eiji—_

_Will be back later. Bones and Kong are coming to keep you company._

_Also, don’t burn down the kitchen お願いします_

He could hear the dripping sarcasm coming from the written words. Eiji scowled as he crumpled up the note and tossed it in the bin. 

“I will burn down the kitchen if I want to! You just watch, Ash,” he yelled, his voice echoing around the walls of the apartment.

“We’re gon’ burn down the kitchen?”

Flinching at the unexpected response, Eiji whipped around to see Bones standing in the doorway with an excited grin on his face. Kong, who was rubbing at the back of his neck, was right behind him. 

“Don’t know if that’s a good idea, shrimpy. Won’t the boss get mad?” 

“I am not being serious,” the brunet sighed at the two gang members. “Please come inside. I am making coffee, want some?” 

“If ya don’t mind, I’ll take some,” Bones responded eagerly while taking a seat on the couch. Eiji noticed that he was wearing the same blue sweater— the one regifted from Ash’s “birthday” party— for the third time this week. It brought a smile to his face to know that Bones liked it so much. 

In the middle of pouring the boiling water into the mugs, he realized he had nothing to serve with the coffee. Peering into the pantry, his eyes landed on the bag of those sugary monstrosities. He must have forgotten to throw them in the garbage.

While they definitely weren’t his first choice to serve to guests, it was at least something. Eiji let out a groan as he reluctantly grabbed the bag and poured them onto a platter. 

“Peeps!” Bones cried once he noticed the sugary treat. Within seconds of the plate being set on the table, the gang member began shoving several of the abominations into his mouth. 

“You, um, like them?” Eiji stared in disbelief as the gang member devoured the whole plate. The sight alone made his stomach churn. _No wonder he has no teeth._

“Whaddya mean? They’re the best, Eiji!” 

Just thinking back to his prior experience of eating one of those things gave him chills. “Yeah, the best,” he said slowly, hoping his smile didn’t look too forced. 

— — — 

“So, will you tell me where Ash has gone?” 

Bones and Kong exchanged nervous glances at his question. Eiji knew they wouldn’t give him a straight answer— similar to Ash— but it was possible to get some information from them. 

“You know we can’t tell ya, shrimpy,” Kong frowned. There was a conflicted look in his deep brown eyes as he avoided his gaze. 

“Can you say when he will be back?” 

“Dunno. He’s meetin’ with both Chinatown and Black Sabbath.” Bones answered with a shrug.

“Bones,” Kong glared over at his fellow gang member. “Remind me to knock ya over the head when Eiji isn’t looking.” 

“Oh, shit! Did I say somethin’ again?”   
  
_Meetings, huh._ Eiji mulled over the thought as he brought the dirty mugs into the kitchen. He supposed he should be grateful that Ash wasn’t running into a shootout, at least. 

Despite his feeble efforts of pushing away the anxious thoughts, several terrible scenarios kept running through his mind while he washed the cups. It was if he was on autopilot as he ran a soapy sponge over the mugs, dried them, and put them away. Bones and Kong’s squabbling a few feet away sounded just as distant as the busy New York traffic outside.

Still lost in his own head, he opened the fridge to put the milk container away. However, just before shutting the door, Eiji caught sight of the pie dough from last night sitting on the shelf. A grin quickly spread across his face before he rushed back into the other room. 

Clapping his hands together, he pleaded, "I need both of your help!”

Bones and Kong both turned to look at him quizzically. 

“I want to make this!” Eiji grabbed the tablet, turning the recipe towards the two gang members. 

“Lemon mer-in-gee?” Kong squinted at the screen.

Bones scratched his head as he stared at the tablet. “What’s a me-ring-e?”

“It is a pie with— uh, egg… I think?” 

“That doesn’t sound very good.” 

“It is supposed to be good!” Eiji huffed in response. “The reviews said so.” 

The two gang members glanced at one another, concern written all over their faces. Kong was the first to speak up. “I guess we've got no choice.” 

A sense of relief washed over him at their words. Eiji figured it was _impossible_ for all three of them to mess up if they worked together. 

— — — 

“So, the first thing we do is roll out the dough,” the brunet read from the recipe. “Using this!” He held up the wooden rolling pin with a grin. 

Both Bones and Kong stared blankly at him— almost as if he had grown two heads. To them, it seemed the kitchen utensil was completely alien. 

“Whas that?” 

“Um, it is— er,” Eiji blanked, scratching his head as he wracked his brain for the word in English. “You use it like this.” He moved the pin back and forth mid-air in an attempt to demonstrate. “And it makes the dough flat.” 

“Right…” Kong trailed off. “Maybe you can just show us first, shrimpy?” 

“Oh, okay!” While he sounded cheerful enough on the outside, on the inside Eiji was positive that he was the last person who should teach anything to do with baking. His hands were shaking in apprehension as he moved the dough from the fridge to the counter. “First, you put flour on it.” Eiji grabbed a handful from the canister. “Then you roll it flat with uh— this,” he motioned to the rolling pin. 

“It has to fit it in there.” Eiji gestured towards the casserole dish— the one they had gotten for Mrs. Coleman last Thanksgiving, but she insisted they keep instead. “Easy, right?” 

“Okay… I s’pose.” The terrified look on Kong’s face wasn’t the best sign, but _surely_ he would get the hang of it. 

“You can start that, while Bones helps me with the inside part,” Eiji gave a reassuring grin while handing the rolling pin over. 

As he started gathering the other ingredients, Bones trailed behind him like a lost puppy, “Wha do I got to do?” 

“Can you get me eggs from the refrigerator, please?” 

A curt nod was all he got in response before the gang member took off towards the fridge with a newfound determination. “Eiji! You hav’ like five things of eggs in here!” Bones gawked at the stack of cartons on the shelf. 

“Right.. some are for if I mess up, and rest is for coloring.” 

“Colorin’? Why’d ya do that?” 

“Mrs. Owens told me it is an Easter tradition,” the brunet explained while grabbing a saucepan out of an upper cabinet. 

“Never heard of it.” Bones shrugged, “How many eggs do ya want. Like two or somethin’?” 

Eiji hummed as he started measuring out the ingredients for the filing. Every time he had to follow this ridiculous American measurement system, it made his head ache. How was he supposed to know how much a _cup_ and a _teaspoon_ were supposed to be? Grams and milliliters made much more sense. He’d much prefer to use a bowl and scale as opposed to these ridiculous plastic measuring cups that Ash had gotten him. 

Once everything was measured out to the best of his ability and placed in the saucepan over the heat, Eiji let out a sigh of relief. “Can you watch this, Bones? I need to separate the eggs.” 

“Alright, I won’t let it out of my sight!” Bones responded enthusiastically. 

_Not quite what I meant, but at least he is excited._ The brunet let out a sigh. Next, he moved to separate the yolk from the eggs— which the woman in the recipe made look very easy. However, in reality, it was not even close to being easy. 

A whole carton of eggs later, he only managed to separate two out of five yolks. Eggshells littered the counter along with the goopy mess from his failed attempts. 

The sound of the wooden rolling pin smacking against the counter almost made him drop the egg he was holding onto the floor. Eiji whipped around to see Kong beating up the poor pie dough. 

“Kong!” He cried out. “What are you doing?” 

“This stuff keeps sticking and comin’ apart shrimpy. Figured I’d give it a good whack to show it whose boss.” 

Eiji had to hold back a groan as he assessed the damage. Despite being beaten to a pulp, the dough was flatter and may just fit into the dish. “This should be okay.. can I see?” 

The taller gang member scooted to the side so Eiji could stand right in front of the dough. After a quick prayer, he moved to pick up the crust. One would expect the entire pie crust to remove itself from the counter easily, but for some reason, he was only able to pick up chunks. Even with a floured spatula, the dough kept ripping apart. 

“Enough, already,” he snapped. At this point, the only thing left to do was to put the ripped dough pieces into the dish and press them back together. 

With Kong's help, the crust eventually got into the dish. It didn’t look pretty— let alone even— but it was good enough to move on. 

— — — 

“Next it says to blind bake,” Eiji frowned at the recipe. “What is that?” 

Kong scratched his head. “Like cookin’ it without lookin’?” 

“Must be.” Bones nodded.

According to the white woman on the farm, who wrote the recipe, the dough had to be weighed down. This step apparently used another strange kitchen gadget that Eiji had never heard of. _Do all women on farms just have these things?_

While he did not have those strange-looking spheres, rice would _probably_ do the same thing. Before adding anything, Eiji draped some parchment paper over the dish— just as the woman had done. However, to his dismay, he found the container of rice nearly empty. There was just enough to fill the crust about halfway… which was probably fine. 

“Okay, Kong, can you watch this?” He asked as he slid the dish into the hot oven. “You have to reduce heat in a few minutes.” 

“Sure thing, shrimpy.” 

For a split second, everything seemed to be going well. Maybe, there was a chance that this pie would turn out tasting good. However, that was before a sudden whooshing noise took over the kitchen. 

“E-Eiji! Oh, this is so bad... the boss gonna wring my neck for sure.” Bones yelled as he stared at the giant fire which had sprung up from the stovetop.

“Turn the heat down!” Eiji cried. 

“Howdya do that?” 

Clearly having no other choice, the brunet rushed over to the stove. He flipped the burner off and grabbed a pot lid. Eiji winced as he felt the flames lick the skin on his hand, but he still managed to throw the lid on top of the flaming saucepan. 

Seconds later, the fire died down. The only traces left behind were black singe marks along the wall. Eiji let out a breath as he sunk to the floor, his hand throbbing. 

“Eiji!” Both gang members yelled almost instantaneously. Before he could even blink, Bones and Kong were at his side. 

“Are ya crazy, Eiji?” Kong huffed.

“He’s crazy awesome, ya mean!” 

“Shuddup, Bones. Do ya know what boss would do to us if he found out Eiji got hurt.” 

The duo’s squabbling sounded like background noise as Eiji examined his hand. It was red, _really_ red, and the pain had yet to die down. 

“Oh, shit, he is hurt,” Bones stared at him with wide eyes. 

“I am fine,” he reassured them with a smile. “Can you bring cold towel?” 

It was almost comical how quickly Bones and Kong nearly knocked into each other as they scrambled to fulfill his request. 

Eiji had to stifle a laugh as both gang members appeared in front of him at the same time— each holding a wet cloth. “Thank you.” He accepted both of the towels graciously, wrapping them around his hand. The cooling sensation from the cloth was an immediate relief from the pain. 

“Can you both help me up?” 

Not knowing what would happen, Eiji let out a squeak as Kong grabbed under his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. 

“Maybe, uh, you should sit down, Eiji?” Bones asked apprehensively. 

“I tell you already. I am fine, promise!” 

The two gang members shared a look of disbelief but didn’t press any further. 

At this point, Eiji almost dreaded looking at the state of the filling. He could hear Bones gasp as he lifted up the lid with his good hand. “Huh,” he said while staring down at the mixture— which didn’t look too much different from before. More browned, if anything. 

“Wha’ do we do now?” 

“Well, we have to mix those egg yolks into here, but I never finished separating them—”

“I’ll do it.” Bones interrupted. “I kinda saw how you did it before, can’t be too tough.” 

The brunet had no choice but to reluctantly agree. In this moment, he was immensely grateful that there were plenty of backup eggs. Bones should be able to get three more yolks separated— he had two cartons to work with, after all. 

— — — 

When Kong pulled the crust out of the oven, Eiji expected it to be much worse. However, it sort of looked like the picture. The bottom remained flat-ish, but the sides did shrink down, making the pie itself much thinner. 

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Now, the crust could hold less of that questionable filling. 

“Shit!” Bones swore as he dropped another egg onto the floor. He had almost managed to separate two more eggs, even if they did look a little sloppy. 

“It is okay, Bones. We do not need as much filling now!” 

“Jeez, thank god,” the gang member sighed before dropping the egg he was holding into the sink. 

“Next thing is to put the mixture into the egg yolks and put it all back on the stove.” 

“ _Back_ on the stove?” Kong gave him a worried look. 

“It is okay, I will watch it this time,” Eiji winked. “You use my mixer on the egg whites.” 

“This thing with the metal spoons, right?” The taller gang member motioned towards the hand mixer. Thankfully, Eiji had remembered to set it up before he burnt his hand. 

“Right! Bones, you will help me with the— uh, tempurring... I think it says?” 

“Oh! Like a cat?” 

“No cat,” Eiji chuckled, “I mean the egg mix I said before.” 

Even though he only had one hand, he could still whisk the egg yolks while Bones dumped the mixture from the saucepan into the glass bowl. By some miracle, a majority made it into the bowl instead of on the floor. 

As he mixed the two together, the filling seemed lumpy. The farm woman had a very smooth filling on her recipe, and no matter how much Eiji whisked, the mixture wouldn’t even out. He just decided to toss it back into the saucepan— hoping the heat would do something. 

“Shrimpy, do I press this button,” Kong called out from across the kitchen. Before Eiji had a chance to even ask which one he was referring to, the mixer was turned on at full speed. Egg whites shot out of the bowl covering the counter, floor, and Kong’s shirt.

“Eiji!” Bones yelled over the sound of the mixer, “This is getting really crazy lookin’” 

Amongst all the commotion, no one heard the front door open. 

“Holy _shit_ , what the hell is going on in here!” 

All three of them froze at that voice. Eiji slowly turned around to see a very angry looking Ash glaring at both Bones and Kong. 

“B-Boss! We didn’ think you’d be back so soon,” Kong laughed nervously. 

“You never answered my question,” The blond glared at his subordinates. “What the hell are you doing?” 

“W-We were makin’ you a pie, boss!” Bones answered, his voice shaking with every word. 

Eiji blinked owlishly at the two gang members. “What do you mean? It is not for him.” 

Bones gaped at him. “It's not?” 

Ash let out a groan, his eyes roaming around the state of the kitchen. Once his piercing gaze landed on his burnt hand, Eiji attempted to hide it behind his back. 

“Eiji, you’re hurt.” The blond’s demeanor instantaneously shifted from ruthless gang leader to the kind, caring Ash that Eiji knew and loved. 

“I am okay... just a small burn,” he attempted to laugh it off. 

“Let me see it.” 

_Crap._ “Ah, well, it is not that bad, really.” 

The blond gave him a disbelieving look before gently pulling his arm out from behind his back. Eiji could see the anger rising in his expression as he looked over his hand. Bones and Kong seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for a scolding from their boss.

“Ash! It is my fault.. please do not blame them,” Eiji pleaded. 

“Does this have to do with those scorch marks I see on the wall?”

“We're so sorry, boss,” Bones cried. 

“Please forgive us, boss!” Kong echoed. 

“Whatever,” Ash sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You both just get out of here for today.” 

The two gang members shared a shocked look. Bones sent an appreciative grin his way before scurrying out of the apartment with Kong in tow. 

— — — 

“You really did a number on the kitchen this time,” Ash commented with a low whistle. “I think you managed to cover the entire floor in eggshells.” 

“You are the one who told me to make a pie in the first place!” Eiji huffed. 

“I just suggested it. I didn’t _tell_ you to do it.” The blond shrugged while throwing open one of the cabinets and rummaging through the contents, pulling out some type of cream. “Let me see your hand.” 

Eiji wanted to argue that he was fine and needed to go back to baking— however, the pain had started again. Reluctantly, he held out his hand to the other boy. 

“Ow,” he winced as Ash rubbed the cream onto his burn. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to stick his hand right into a fire. 

“Why didn’t you just get a pie from a bakery or something?” The blond’s eyes met his while he ran his thumb over the gold band on his ring finger. Ash’s touch was cooling on his warm skin.

“Well, if I just bought it… then how would I know if it was made with love?” 

Silence took hold of the room for a few seconds before Ash burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious?” Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes as his body shook with laughter. “That mess in the kitchen is made with love?” 

“It was,” Eiji frowned as he pulled his hand out of the other boy’s grip. They had worked hard on that pie, and he didn’t appreciate being teased for it. 

“Looks more like it was made with chaos.” 

A sudden bubbling noise caused them both to turn and look at the stove. Apparently, the filling had come to an aggressive boil and had started to overflow onto the counter. 

The brunet let out a gasp as he rushed over to switch off the burner. One look into the saucepan had him cringing. The previously yellow lemon filling had turned almost black in color. 

“You’re going to make someone eat that?” Ash raised a brow. 

“It does not look _that_ bad.” 

“Right.” 

“It may look not good, but maybe the taste…” Eiji trailed off as he grabbed a spoon. His mind screamed for him _not_ to eat the strange black goop, but he still had some hope left. With a deep breath, he scooped up and swallowed a spoonful of the filling. 

_Oh god._ He held a hand over his mouth to keep from gagging. This mixture was one of the most bitter things he had ever tasted— but there _was_ a hint of lemon. 

“So, can I dump all this down the sink now?” 

“Fine,” he conceded. “What about the, uh, mer-ring-e?” 

“You mean this?” Ash held up the glass bowl containing the egg whites. Instead of looking like pillowy peaks, they seemed to closer resemble dish soap. 

“Oh, never mind.” It felt as if a weight was dropped on his chest as a defeated feeling settled in his gut. Honestly, why did he even attempt another baking attempt when deep down he knew they all ended in disaster. One look around the kitchen was a testament to how useless he was at this.

“Hey,” the blond said softly, breaking him out of his spiral of negative thoughts. “Why don’t you use your one hand to help me clean up this mess, then we can get food from that crappy Chinese place you love.” 

His stomach growled just at the thought of shrimp lo mein. Even though he had been baking for hours, he hadn’t eaten almost all day. “It is _not_ crappy,” he responded defensively. “But, will I be of any use with just one hand?” 

“Hm, maybe you’re right.” 

_So he was just useless. Again._

Ash gave him a once over, a teasing glint in his eyes. “How about you just stand there looking cute? The covered in egg and sugar look suits you, I think.” 

“C-Cute?” Eiji spluttered. For the first time today, he actually glanced down at his clothes to see that they were, in fact, a complete mess. 

Despite Ash’s protests, he insisted on helping in some way— since he was the one who caused the kitchen to look like a disaster in the first place. However, the best he could do was hold the dustpan while the blond swept eggshells into it. With a decent amount of elbow grease on Ash’s part, the floors and counters ended up relatively clean. The black singe mark on the wall would most likely have to be painted over. 

“You know,” Ash started, a sly smile playing on his lips, “Maybe you should have given that pie to them. Serves those pretentious fucks right.” 

“We are not going to poison the neighbors, Ash.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> お願いします = please (basically Ash is a little shit but we love him anyways)
> 
> This [beautiful art](https://twitter.com/bbb__aiko/status/1231192358215020546?s=20) was the piece that inspired the little couch scene at the beginning! I also really love [this one](https://twitter.com/junbaraya/status/1252734351315398656?s=20) so I am sharing it as well! 
> 
> I hope you are all staying safe out there ♡


	4. A英

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to the final chapter! ♥︎ 
> 
> Let me start off by saying that this part would not even be possible without the help of my awesome friend.. since she was able to provide me with the Japanese characters I used (since I know absolutely nothing about Japanese)! I definitely have to say that rewatching the entirety Banana Fish- and re-experiencing the pain- powered me to write this last chapter as fluffy/emotional as possible ♡
> 
> A [specific scene](https://imgur.com/a/vRoJw0j) from a beautiful doujinshi by this [incredible author](https://twitter.com/wrng_3) gave me the inspiration for a major scene in the chapter (props again to my amazing friend for helping me translate it). Parts were also inspired by [these](https://twitter.com/atinatsu/status/1264203169938042880) [two](https://twitter.com/kt_965/status/1267055844295753728) beautiful artworks! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the final chapter!! And do let me know what you think :>

Thankfully, within a few days, Eiji’s hand started to feel a bit better. Although he didn’t want to admit it, a big part was from Ash’s constant badgering that he keep applying the burn cream. By the time Easter came around, the pain barely lingered. 

That Sunday morning, he felt as giddy as a child while he pulled out the plastic eggs and the coloring kits from their hidden spot in the pantry. There weren’t many real eggs left to color— since he and Bones had broken almost all of them— but there were still around half a carton intact in the fridge.

He had to get up relatively early to finish slicing up the avocados to fit into the thirty or so colorful plastic eggs. By the time they were all cut up, he still had a few empty ones left to fill with the mustard packets. Two cups of coffee later, all he had left to do was the tricky part— hiding the eggs sneakily enough so a perceptive gang boss wouldn’t find them immediately. 

Biting his lip, Eiji stared around the apartment as he tried to brainstorm spots to hide them. The bedroom was definitely out of the question. Ash would definitely wake up if he heard him rustling around in the drawers. 

So, that left the kitchen, office, and living room area. Eiji let out a breath as he scanned the room. He had a big task before him, but he would try his best. Even if Ash found them all quickly, it would still be a happy memory for him— and that’s all that mattered. 

If he could, he would replace all of the blond’s bad memories with happier ones. The occasional sad or scared looks, especially after he had a nightmare, that Ash tried to hide from him broke his heart. The rare occasions Ash would let go and genuinely smile or laugh made Eiji feel warm inside. That’s all he wanted for the other boy. 

Once he had finally finished hiding all the plastic eggs to the best of his ability, the late morning sun was had already started streaming through the windows. Since it was getting late, he figured that he should attempt to wake up the sleeping lynx sometime soon— a task he _truly_ enjoyed.

“Ash, wake up!” Eiji announced as he threw open the bedroom door. A few grunts coming from the blond’s bed was all he got in response. Moving on to his next tactic, Eiji pulled all the curtains open, instantly lighting up the dark room. 

Still, Ash never moved from his sleeping position. 

“Ash,” he tried again as he stood over the blond. “You have to wake up.” 

Pulling the blanket over his head, Ash mumbled something incoherent.   
  
Eiji had to resist rolling his eyes while he tugged at the sheets. “It is Easter. You need to hunt eggs, Ash!” 

“Hunt what,” the other boy responded blearily, peering up at him with tired eyes.

“Eggs!” 

Ash stared at him with a blank expression. “What do you mean… I can’t shoot an egg?”

“You do not _shoot_ them, you _find_ them,” Eiji huffed, admittedly starting to get a little agitated. He may have to move onto his third tactic in waking up this stupid American. “If you do not get up, I will throw you in shower!” 

The room soon became quiet. For a split second, he thought that the blond was actually thinking about getting up. In the end, Ash broke the silence with a yawn as he rolled over. 

Eiji couldn’t help the exasperated groan that left his lips. Bracing himself, he tugged the blond’s arm— effectively pulling him out of bed. Once he hit the floor, Ash let out a whine. 

If only the nefarious street gangs of New York City could see the notorious Ash Lynx now, curling up on the carpet like a pet cat. He had to resist the urge to take a picture to send to Max or Ibe-san. 

“Shower, Ash. I will make coffee.” He said matter-of-factly while grabbing the blond’s arm, dragging him into the bathroom and dumping him in the bathtub. Ignoring the dull ache in his hand, he switched on the cold water, making sure to turn it up to the highest pressure setting.

— — —

After what felt like an eternity, Ash finally emerged from the bathroom— wearing one of _his_ Nori Nori shirts. The blond toweled his hair and strode to the table like he hadn’t kept him waiting for at least thirty minutes. “Coffee looks cold,” he commented as he stared down at the mug.

“Of course it is cold,” Eiji said through gritted teeth, subconsciously tightening his grip on the tablet. “You let it sit for over half an hour!” 

“Hm, did I? My bad.” Even though it _sounded_ like he was saying sorry, the blond didn’t _look_ apologetic in the slightest. “How about heating this up for me? Ash held out his mug with a sly grin. “I just sat down after all.” 

Snatching the cup out of his hand, Eiji couldn’t resist sticking his tongue out. “You are _so_ not cute.” 

“More like handsome, right,” Ash countered while resting his cheek against his propped-up hand, making sure to give him one of those charming looks he just _loved_ to show off to the neighbors. 

“No!” 

For a moment, blond stared at him in shock before reclining back in the chair. “I can’t believe my own fiancé is breaking my heart,” he exaggerated, placing his hand on his heart for emphasis.

“Oh, be quiet. I am heating your coffee, am I not?” 

Ash scoffed as he grabbed the tablet, “Which is taking forever, are you going at old man speed today?” 

“Ha ha very funny,” Eiji grumbled as he slammed the microwave door shut and pressed the reheat button a little more forceful than necessary. 

“So, is there a reason you woke me up at this ungodly hour?” 

“What you mean? It is Easter today!” 

Ash looked unimpressed by that answer. “Okay, so what?” 

“So! You look for plastic eggs— I hide them around the apartment already— and then we color real eggs.” 

“Oh, is that a thing people do?” The blond kept his eyes on the tablet, seemingly more interested in whatever article he was reading than to their conversation.

“Ash! How do you not know your own country’s traditions?” 

_That_ caused Ash to look up at him, a wave of unexpected anger visible in his eyes. “I don’t know, Eiji. Maybe it was because I spent the majority of my life in a child sex trafficking ring.” 

A sudden cold gripped his spine. Eiji swallowed around the lump in his throat, feeling like his heart had just dropped to the floor. “I-I am sorry I did not mean it like that.” 

Ash let out a long sigh as he tossed the tablet onto the table. Any sense of agitation seeped out of his expression, leaving a tired look on his face. At that moment, he looked much older than just eighteen. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” 

Eiji wanted nothing more than to gather him up in his arms and hold him tight. But he didn’t. Despite the months of living together, he was never quite sure when Ash wanted to be comforted and when he wanted to be left alone. 

“So,” Ash broke the tense silence. “You said eggs, right?” 

“Oh, yes,” Eiji perked up. “I do not know what eggs have to do with Easter—“ 

“Wait, are you talking about the things you were hiding behind the natto this week.” 

A gasp flew out of his mouth, “Eh? H-How did you know?” 

“Guess you could say I’m perceptive.” Ash shrugged. “Anyway, am I supposed to put these eggs in something, or are you going to make me carry them all?” 

_Oh. He had never thought of that._

“Uh,” Eiji rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and pulled out one of the soup bowls. “This?” 

A confident grin spread across Ash’s face as he took the bowl. “Set the timer, I’m about to find all these things before you can even finish your cup of tea.” 

“Good luck, I spend all morning hiding them.” He couldn’t help but gloat just a little bit as he pulled up the stopwatch app on the tablet. 

— — — 

Three minutes. Every single egg was found within _three_ minutes. 

“Y-You!” Eiji fumed at the smirking blond. “I tried hard to hide all those, and you find them all in minutes!” 

“Guess you wasted your energy.” Ash shrugged while popping an avocado slice into his mouth. 

A pile of mustard packets had accumulated on the table along with the shells of the plastic eggs. The aggravating sound of plastic popping open again and again was starting to get on his nerves. Ash was _really_ taking his time as he worked his way through the avocados. Every so often, the blond would make sure to shoot him a self-satisfied look. 

Slamming his cup down on the table, Eiji jumped up out of his seat. “I would like to see you do better!” He glared at the other boy while putting his hands on his hips. 

“Okay.” 

“Okay? What do you mean okay?” 

“I mean,” Ash smirked while casually leaning back in the chair, “I bet I can hide these things better and faster than you did in a third of the time.” 

“B-But you have nothing to put in them,” Eiji spluttered in response. 

Even that didn’t seem to deter the blond. If anything, he seemed more excited at the extra challenge. “Bring me a pen and paper from the other room and give me fifteen minutes.” 

“Fine,” Eiji grumbled as he started to stomp towards the office. “But, you get only fifteen!” He called out, turning around to lock eyes with the blond.

“You’re on.” 

— — — 

Since Ash insisted he wait in the other room, Eiji reluctantly plopped down on the bed. He knew there was no way Ash could fill _and_ hide all those eggs in that short of time. For once, he may manage to actually beat the infamous Ash Lynx at something. 

As soon as the fifteen minutes had passed, he rushed into the other room— not wanting to give Ash the benefit of more time. 

“So, this may be cheating, but I’m giving you the first one,” the blond admitted, dropping the plastic egg into his hands. “This is the only one you can open now, the rest have to wait until you find them all.” 

“Oh,” he answered lamely. While he wasn’t an expert on this Easter egg thing, he was sure that was against some kind of rule. If there were any rules applied to this, to begin with. 

“Are you going to open it or just stand there?” Ash asked pointedly, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. 

“R-Right! Sorry,” Eiji squeaked. Popping open the plastic egg, there was a folded piece of paper inside. The corners were stained green— most likely from the avocado— and there were a few words written in Ash’s handwriting. 

_Things I Love The Most About You_

Eiji stared at the strip of paper, thinking that maybe he was reading it wrong. His English reading skills weren’t the best. “What is this, Ash?” He furrowed his brows as his eyes scanned the string of words yet again. “Things you love… about me?” 

“It was the quickest thing I could think of,” Ash replied simply, as if the answer was obvious. 

He stood there gaping like a fish out of water, his brain wouldn’t even give him proper words to respond with. 

The blond smirked as he handed over the soup bowl. “Good luck finding the rest of them, you’ll need it.” 

Ash only had fifteen minutes to hide them all. How hard could it be? 

— — — 

After more than twenty minutes of searching, Eiji was _almost_ eating his words. Clearly, it would be more difficult than he thought. He tried searching under couch cushions and through all the drawers in the office, but he couldn’t find a single egg. 

“Do you need a hint,” Ash called from the other room. 

“I do not!” Eiji frowned as he pulled another book off the shelf. Since he hadn’t found any eggs yet, he was starting to believe that this was some kind of cruel joke. 

It wasn’t until he crawled under the desk, as a last resort, that he spotted one. The pink plastic egg was wedged in the crook between the bookshelf and the wall. _How_ did Ash expect him to look in that ridiculous spot in the first place? 

Dropping the egg into the soup bowl, Eiji headed back into the living room with a newfound determination. If he could find one, then maybe the rest would come easier. 

“Oh good, you finally got one.” The blond commented as he sipped his coffee, perfectly content in watching Eiji struggle. 

_That brat!_ “How you hide them this well?” 

“Simple. I just put them where you never look.” 

Where he never looks… Eiji mused over his words for a moment. As he glanced around, his eyes landed on the upper cabinets. He better not have hidden them there. 

Climbing onto the counter for extra height, he threw open the cabinet door. Lo and behold, a pile of the plastic eggs sat on top of the highest shelf. “Ash... I cannot believe you,” he growled while turning to glare at the other boy. 

“You never said I couldn’t put them all in one spot. After hiding that one in the office, I was running low on time.” 

“That is—“ 

“And,” Ash interrupted, “I was able to hide them better and faster, just like I said.” 

“Because you put them where I cannot see!” 

“Details, details,” Ash snickered as he waved his hand in dismissal. 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Eiji told himself to take deep breaths. Even though he played dirty, he would let Ash have this one. Knowing him, these eggs were probably filled with teasing jabs and backhanded compliments, anyway. 

— — — 

A sudden feeling of nerves took hold of him as held one of the plastic eggs in his hand. The small egg was starting to feel quite heavy on his palm. Steeling himself for what was about to come, Eiji popped open the plastic and unfurled the piece of paper inside. 

The last thing he was expecting was a single character— written in his native tongue no less. 

目

Even though he knew it so well, Eiji couldn’t help but feel confused as he stared at the word. Surely, Ash had made a mistake. “Eyes,” he translated aloud, looking to the blond for confirmation. “My eyes? You… love my eyes, but why?” 

“What do you mean,” Ash asked, his brows furrowed. 

“They are brown and boring...” he trailed off, fiddling with the hem on his shirt. The sudden scrape of the dining chair against the tile almost made him jump. He watched as Ash stood up abruptly, pushing his chair away so he could come to stand beside him in the kitchen.

“I don’t know what _you_ mean, they are beautiful, Eiji.” The blond said softly as he brought a hand up to cup his cheek. “So dark yet always shining and full of emotion.” 

“I… guess so?” Eiji could feel his face warming as his eyes met Ash’s. The most brilliant shade of green was staring down at _him_ , of all people. 

Ash dropped his hand so he could place another egg into his palm. “Open it.” 

His hands were shaking as he pulled apart the plastic. Written on the next piece of paper was another familiar character. Eiji couldn’t help but scoff at this one.

髪

“I think you made mistake. This says hair.” 

“That’s not a mistake,” Ash stifled a laugh. “Am I not allowed to love your hair?” 

“I do not understand how you could love mine when yours is so beautiful,” he admitted with a sad smile. 

“That’s easy, it’s so soft.” The blond twirled a strand around his finger for emphasis. “Not to mention, it makes the cutest bedhead in the morning.” 

Eiji swatted his hand away. “Now, you make fun of me.” 

“I can’t help it. You’re too fun to tease.” 

Holding back a groan, Eiji went to pick up the next egg. Popping it open, he was pleasantly surprised to find several characters written on the piece of paper. 

笑い声

He could feel his cheeks warm at the word. _His laugh_. It was ironic since he did this whole egg hunt just to see Ash smile and laugh. “I am impressed, this one is more complicated.” 

“Did I write it out correctly?” 

“A little sloppy, but I understand it.” Eiji couldn’t help the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Why doesn’t the silly American let me teach him Japanese?” 

“Then I wouldn’t be able to surprise you like this, could I?” 

“But you can surprise me in _other_ ways.” 

Ash raised a brow at him. “I think you’ve been in America too long, saying dirty things like that.” 

“T-That is not what I meant, Ash!” He puffed out his cheeks at the snickering boy beside him. “I mean, like making your bed or something— not those gross things you think of!” 

“Whatever you say—“ 

Since Eiji didn’t have a pillow on hand, he had to settle for whacking the blond with an oven mitt. 

— — — 

“I am opening the next egg now!” 

Popping open the plastic egg, Eiji presumed there was another piece of paper folded up inside. What he wasn’t expecting was one of his tea bags to fall out onto his hand. 

“What? It’s more thoughtful than a mustard packet.” Ash shrugged. 

“It is _not!_ You just got this from the cabinet when I had to go out to get the mustard packs.” 

Several more eggs filled with junk— that Ash tried to pass off as meaningful— later, he had finally come across another slip of paper. 

His breath hitched as he scanned the characters. How did Ash know something like this? 

飛んでいる姿 

“H-How,” he breathed, his heart hammering in his chest. 

“I had Ibe-san help me out with that one.” 

“Ibe-san... all in fifteen minutes?” 

“Well, I suppose he thought I was going to tell him you were dying or something, so he picked up the phone pretty fast,” Ash snickered as he leaned back against the counter. 

Eiji looked back down to the paper wistfully. “Watching me fly, huh? Am I bird now?” 

A moment of silence passed between the two of them as the blond turned to look out the window. His gaze seemed far away when he finally spoke up. “You saved us that day— whether you choose to believe that or not.” 

Scratching the back of his head, he let out a nervous laugh. “It really was not that impressive…” 

“I think that was the first time I took you seriously. Some crazy baby-faced kid from Japan who had the nerve to ask _me_ , of all people, if you could hold my pistol. Then you decided to follow me through hellfire and back— hell, we are still stuck there.” A grimace took over his face as he kept his gaze fixed out the window. “I don’t get why you stay.” 

The pain on the other boy’s face felt like a knife to the chest. Eiji reached out to grab his hand. “I could not leave you, Ash!” Unspoken words were bubbling to the surface and falling out of his mouth faster than he could stop them. “Can you not see? Even if I go back to Japan, I would think of you each second and want to be with you every day. I would be miserable!” 

Ash finally tore his eyes away to look down at him. The expression he wore made it seem like he was actually surprised to hear all these things.

“I…” Eiji choked as he maneuvered Ash’s hand, clasped in both of his, so that it was resting against his face. “I love you, Ash. I tell you that day at the library, and I will say again… maybe I should say every day—” 

Before he could continue, he was tugged into a crushing embrace. He could see Ash’s shoulders visibly shaking and felt tears staining his shirt as the blond buried his head in the crook of his neck. All Eiji could do was hug the other boy back as tightly as he could. 

Once Ash’s sobs had subsided, he went lax in his arms. Eiji moved to run his hands through that beautiful blond hair, letting out a little giggle at the noise of contentment the other boy made in response to his motions. 

“Eiji.” He could hear the blond mumble into his neck. 

“You do not have to say anything, Ash.” 

A few seconds later, Ash released his iron grip, his arms slowly falling to his side. Wiping stray tears away with his sleeve, he gestured to the counter. “You’ve got one egg left.” 

“Oh!” Eiji beamed as he picked up the pink egg, popping it open to see another folded piece of paper on the inside. Unlike the others, this one seemed to be written out in English. 

_I love everything about you._

Eiji’s heart soared at the words. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes while he reread the phrase over and over again. “Oh, Ash,” he breathed as he glanced at the blond. 

“Make sure you turn it over, too.” 

There was something written on the back? He wasn’t sure how much more his heart could take before it would burst. Flipping over the slip of paper, the smile on his face quickly fell as he read the words. 

_Except how you make me eat natto.  
_

_That brat._ “Ash!” He snapped while turning towards the other boy, who had almost doubled over laughing. _God help him.. he really had fallen in love with this stupid American._

— — — 

“Are you ready to color the eggs?” Eiji grinned as he submerged six eggs into the water-filled saucepan. The scorch mark along the wall was visible out of the corner of his eye— an unpleasant reminder of the recent baking disaster, which was still fresh in his mind. At least, this time, he was cooking something he was familiar with. He had boiled eggs as a snack countless times. Without any further hesitation, he switched the burner onto medium heat. 

“That’s all of them?” Ash commented, raising a brow while he peered into the pan. “I thought I saw several cartons in the fridge at one point.” 

At his words, Eiji’s back went as straight as a rod, a cold sweat forming on the nape of his neck. “Oh, ah—well… there was more before I—” 

“Made that pie, which nearly burned down the kitchen?” The blond offered while giving an impish smile, a teasing glint in his green eyes. “How many eggs actually made it into that pie? I recall cleaning about two cartons worth of them off the counters." 

“Yeah, yeah.” Eiji droned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the other boy. Grabbing the coloring kit from the counter, he shoved it into Ash’s chest. “Figure out how to work this instead of being a brat.” 

“Okay, but I’m keeping the fire department on speed dial.” 

Eiji turned around to stick his tongue out at the snickering blond. 

Once the eggs had reached a high boil, he covered the saucepan with a lid and turned down the burner. _No fires would be started today._

“Where’s the vinegar?” He heard Ash call out from the pantry. 

Letting out a sigh, he trudged over to pull the bottle of vinegar off the third shelf— which was right in front of Ash’s face. “Need glasses?” Eiji couldn’t resist the rare chance to tease the other boy. 

“I think I just needed someone short to spot it for me,” Ash responded with a sly grin. 

“S-Short? I am _not_ short,” He huffed, puffing his cheeks out in annoyance. “And it was right in front of your face—how you not see it!” 

“Details, details.” Ash waved his hand in dismissal before plucking the vinegar out of Eiji's arms. 

— — — 

“So, according to this.” The blond waved the egg coloring kit in the air. “It says we have to dip the boiled eggs into these colored cups.” 

“Ah, okay,” Eiji peered at the small plastic containers lined up on the counter. He had never done anything like this in Japan before. 

“I already added the vinegar and color tablets, and now all we need are the eggs.” 

Several silent seconds passed before Ash turned to stare at him expectantly. 

“Oh, me! Yes, I get them.” 

Rushing off to the other side of the kitchen, Eiji lifted up the lid from the saucepan. Peering in, he grimaced when he noticed one of the eggs had burst. _Maybe_ Ash wouldn’t notice if he brought over five instead of six.

Scooping the intact eggs out of the water, he placed them gingerly onto a plate. “Okay, Ash, here they are.” He tried to put on his most charming smile as he set the dish down beside the cups.

Wiping his sweaty hands on his pants, he waited for Ash to say something. _Anything_. 

The blond studied the plate with his brows furrowed. It wasn’t for another few agonizing seconds that he decided to speak up. “Weren’t there six of these?” 

_So much for that_. “Um, what do you mean?” Eiji let out an awkward laugh, praying the shakiness wasn’t too evident in his voice. 

“You’re a terrible liar.” 

“I-I do not know what you mean!” 

Ash leaned against the counter, his sharp gaze seemed to be staring right through him. “I know you’ve never told a proper lie before, but you could do a better job than that.” 

“I just… okay— fine!” He admitted with a sigh. “It exploded.” 

“Exploded?” The blond stifled a laugh before going over to glance into the saucepan. He didn’t seem phased by the burst egg; in fact, he grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled it out of the pan. 

“What are you doing?” Eiji gaped at the other boy as he carried it into the office. Moments later, he returned with the burst egg wrapped in black tape. 

“Fixed it.” 

“Uh, huh. How are we supposed to eat it now?” 

“We’re supposed to eat them?” 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Eiji had to hold back a groan. “I do not know what else you would do with it.” 

“Throw them at people.” 

“No, Ash. We will not terrorize people on Easter, especially!” 

— — — 

“What’re you doing?” Ash peered over his shoulder as he continued to write on one of the eggs with the wax crayon provided with the coloring kit. Supposedly, anywhere he wrote wouldn’t be dyed. 

“I am writing out your name in katakana.” Eiji responded matter-of-factly, sticking his tongue out in concentration. It was hard enough to write on a curved surface, but using a cheap crayon made it infinitely more difficult. Not to mention, that you could barely see what you were writing out. 

Once he was satisfied, he sunk the egg into the green-colored cup. Vinegar bubbled around the eggshell as it slowly deepened in color. Glancing over at Ash, the blond was using a whisk to hold the egg halfway into the red dye. He had another egg wrapped in string submerged into the blue cup. 

_How does he come up with this stuff?_ Eiji scowled as he grabbed another egg. Maybe, this time he would try to be fancy too. After writing his own name in kanji, he figured he could one-up Ash by using all the colors. 

With a satisfied grin, he starting dipping different sections of the egg into each color. He could feel the other boy’s gaze on him— he was probably just jealous of his idea. 

“Done,” Ash announced as he set his two eggs back on the plate. Not surprisingly, they somehow looked picture-perfect— adorned with stripes and lines, almost like they should be in some type of magazine. 

Glaring between the eggs and the other boy— whose arms were crossed as he leaned confidently against the counter, Eiji scowled. “Are you sure you have not this before?” 

“Nope.” 

Suppressing yet another groan, he went to grab his attempt at a show-stopping egg from the plastic cup. The anticipation was killing him— would this _finally_ be the chance where he could one-up Ash? 

Pulling the egg out of the container, Eiji’s smile instantly fell. Instead of looking like a vivid rainbow... it looked more like concrete. Wet concrete.

“Were you going for the industrial look—”

“No!” He cut the blond off sharply, setting the egg down on the plate next to the two masterpieces. In comparison, his seemed like a finger-painting sat next to the Mona Lisa. “It was supposed to be rainbow.” 

“Hm, I see.” Ash raised a brow at him as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Something in his aggravatingly snarky tone made it seem like he had more to say. 

“What?” 

“Well,” the blond started, making sure to take his time dragging out the silence before continuing. “I figured someone who was really into photography would have to know _something_ about color theory,” he ended with a shrug. 

Eiji stared at him with a deadpan expression. Only Ash could make something as simple as dyeing eggs associated with a complicated topic like color theory. 

“If you mix every color together, it’s obviously going to turn out like… that. I thought someone who was so much older and wiser would have some clue—“ 

“I get a redo, then. With the last egg,” he stated matter-of-factly. Not even waiting for Ash to agree, Eiji plucked the last egg out of the container. Staring down at the shell was like staring at a blank canvas. Tapping the wax crayon against his cheek, Eiji pondered what to write. 

A few seconds later, inspiration hit him. He scribbled his idea down before dropping the egg into the red dye container. Just to be safe, he would only stick to one color this time. 

“What did you write?” Ash glanced up at him from his phone. 

“You Americans have no patience. Wait one minute, and you will see.” 

All he got was something between a scoff and a grunt in response. 

— — — 

After a few seconds of Ash staring at the red-colored egg, he spoke up. “I don’t get it. Why is there an alphabet character with a symbol.” 

“It is a combination of our two names.” The blank expression he was getting clearly meant he had to explain further. “Your name starts with letter A, right?” 

“Yeah, did Sesame Street finally teach you the alphabet,” the blond snickered— which earned him a well-deserved shove. 

“Anyway,” Eiji huffed, waiting a few seconds for the other boy’s mocking laughter to subside, “this character is in my name when written in Japanese and sounds like letter A.” 

There was a sudden shift in Ash’s demeanor— from playfulness to genuine curiosity. His green eyes continued to study the egg as he mumbled, “I guess that is pretty good.” 

“Right?” 

“For a klutzy Japanese, that is.” 

_Typical Ash._ Eiji openly glared at him. “You are _so_ not cute.” 

An impish smile was tugging at the blond lips as he slung an arm around his shoulders. His face was _very_ close— Eiji could even feel the puffs of breath on his cheek. Ash leaned down so he could whisper lowly in his ear, “You mean handsome, right?” 

He felt like his entire body was on fire as he peered up into those green eyes, which always seemed to be filled to the brim with emotion. Eiji wasn’t sure what overtook him as he leaned up to press a quick kiss to Ash’s temple. “Okay… maybe a little..” he smiled sheepishly. 

After the initial shock wore off, Ash started laughing— a real, genuine laugh. The sound made his heart soar, and Eiji could feel tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. All of the ridiculous Easter things he had done— from the plastic egg hunt, eating those sugary monstrosities, to dyeing the eggs— had been worth it for this moment alone. 

Eiji stole a quick glance at the red egg nestled with the others on the dish. The dye had finally dried all the way around the wax. Revealing the two characters he had explained to Ash earlier. 

A英 

— — — 

The past month had been one of Eiji's strangest in New York thus far. As quickly as all the paranoia had taken over their apartment building, it had thankfully stopped just as fast. Neighbors were back speaking, laughing, and spending time with one another. He had to decline the housewives’ invitation to what Mrs. Coleman referred to as ‘Happy Hour’ over three times this week. 

Despite all the things that America had thrown at him— especially the twist of falling in love with New York’s most renowned gang leader— Eiji wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case I didn't make it clear enough, the translation of the Japanese characters are as follows:  
> 目 = eyes  
> 髪 = hair  
> 笑い声 = smile/laugh  
> 飛んでいる姿 = watching you fly
> 
> In the doujinshi I spoke about in the beginning, Ash writes a letter to Eiji saying that he loves everything about him- so that was the inspiration for that part of the chapter! If you are interested here is a [link](https://ec.toranoana.jp/joshi_r/ec/item/040030689027/) to where you can buy it! 
> 
> It would mean a lot if you could leave your thoughts and comments about this fic!! Sending love to all my readers in these crazy times! ♥︎
> 
> Feel free to hit me up on my other social media, I cry about BF over there too:  
> [Tumblr](http://queensgrove.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/queensgrove96)


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